The ICC, Birmingham

Overview

The twelfth Midlands Engineering Dinner is taking place on Friday 11th March 2016 at our favourite venue, the ICC in Birmingham.

New for this year is a Young Engineer Networking Event, which we are running in parallel to the Drinks Reception. Targeted at all young engineers between 18 and 25, subsidised tickets are available. This event will be hosted by industry leaders from our sponsors and supported by Monty Halls, our after-dinner speaker.

This inaugural occasion is causing much excitement in the engineering graduate population, and we are sure their infectious enthusiasm will lift the evening event to higher heights! And if you are part of a larger company, why not organise a table just for your own graduates?

Since its inception in 2004, the function has been a joint event organised by local committee members from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). The two Institutions have a combined total membership of 200,000 worldwide and some 20,000 across the Midlands. Our Members work in all sectors of Science, Engineering and Technology.

The evening’s format is one of a business-style networking event, run by engineers for engineers and the business community. The overall aim of the dinner is to raise the profile of the engineering profession, and to ensure that the region is aware of the vital economic contribution made by the engineering community.

We are very happy to be supported by Jaguar Land Rover as the headline sponsor, along with Jonathan Lee, Intel, Penso, Panasonic, the MTC and Envisage co-sponsoring, so there will be plenty to see, touch, learn and experience during the evening’s schedule. As usual, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital will be there to help us support one of the best local charities in the area.

Sponsorship opportunities: If your company would like to consider sponsoring this event please call us on 01926 646428.

The Midlands Engineering Dinner Team would like to introduce you to an exciting opportunity for students and professionals alike to network and learn from some of the largest engineering companies in the Midlands.

The Midlands Engineering Showcase has been organised in cooperation with the IMechE and IET with the main sponsor this year being Jaguar Land Rover.

It is a free event to celebrate the many recent engineering achievements occurring in the Midlands. The showcase will be taking place March 11th from 13:00 until 16:30 in the Reception Area of Hall 3 at the ICC Birmingham.

We are pleased to announce that Jaguar Land Rover will be showing some exclusive content at the event including both the brand new Jaguar F-PACE and the Range Rover Evoque Convertible!

Dr Bob Joyce: Executive Director, Jaguar Land Rover

Bob Joyce is Executive Director, Product Creation and Delivery for Jaguar Land Rover and a member of the Executive Management Team.

An Engineering graduate of Leicester University, Bob's career began in the early 1980s with a series of roles in the UK (Ricardo Consulting Engineers) and the USA (Dresser Industries, Waukesha Engine Division); these focused on improving both petrol and diesel engine technology, and delivering new, innovative technology into production.

Through the first half of the 1990s he held positions as Chief Engineer of Rover's K-Series engine family, Director Gaydon Technology Centre, Director Rover Body & Pressings, and Body Engineering Director of the Rover Group. Then as Senior Vice President BMW front wheel drive platforms, he oversaw both MG Rover and the highly successful new Mini project, which he took through its development process.

He joined Ford Motor Company in 2001, and at Jaguar Land Rover he has overseen the development of the complete range of new vehicles including the new Range Rover, Discovery 4, Range Rover Sport, Freelander 2, Jaguar XK, XF, XJ, F-Type, Evoque and most recently the F-Pace.

A Fellow of the Royal Institute of Engineering and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Bob is married with three children. His interests include rugby, shooting, motorcycles and travel. Bob has recently been honoured by the University of Leicester with a doctorate.

Monty Halls: After Dinner Speaker, BBC

Monty Halls is a writer, explorer, television presenter and public speaker. A former Royal Marines officer who worked for Nelson Mandela on the peace process in South Africa, he left the services in 1996 to pursue a career in leading expeditions. Having achieved a First Class Honors degree in marine biology, over the next decade he circumnavigated the globe four times on various projects, leading multi-national teams in some of the most demanding environments on earth. Notable expeditions included an anti poaching project in the high montane grasslands of the Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi, the discovery of a sunken city off the coast of Tamil Nadu in India, and an (successful) attempt to find and photograph a rare crocodile species in the mountain pools of the Raspaculo Basin in Central America. In 2002 he was awarded the Bish Medal by the Scientific Exploration Society for his services to exploration.

His television career began when he won Channel Four’s Superhuman competition in 2004. Since then he has presented series and documentaries for the BBC, Channel Five, The Discover Channel, The National Geographic Channel and the History Channel.

The three Great Escape Series for BBC2 saw Monty and his much loved four legged companion Reuben live on the west coast of Scotland (2008), the Outer Hebrides (2009) and the west coast of Ireland (2010). After Ireland, Monty went out to Australia to film the award winning “Great Barrier Reef” for the BBC’s Natural History Unit. Monty spent most of 2011 living and working as a fisherman in Cornwall, filming the highly acclaimed “Fisherman’s Apprentice with Monty Halls” for BBC2 which tells the story of the threats facing the livelihood of the small fleet fishing industry in the UK.

2013 saw Channel 5’s series “Monty Halls Diving Adventures” following Monty and a team of deep dive experts on four international expeditions looking to answer some of the great riddles that remain unanswered in underwater exploration.

In 2014 Monty has been filming a new series for Discovery, which will go out next year as well as running the Great British Diving Expedition around the UK. Monty has been leading small teams of divers to remote areas of the UK to sites rarely, if ever dived before. These expeditions have been filmed (not for broadcast) and the last one for this year is to dive the Monach Islands in the Outer Hebrides. This will be to witness the greatest aggregation of grey seals in Europe. 20,000 grey seals - a tenth of the world’s population - come ashore to mate, to fight, and to feed. It is a scene like no other in the Europe, as massed ranks of seals of all ages establish territories on the beaches, and the dunes.

Monty is patron to The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Help for Heroes, Rugby for Heroes, Shark & Coral Conservation, The Shark Trust, Coral Cay Conservation, Go Commando, Dumfrieshire and Cumbrian Greyhound Rescue, and was announced as the new President for Galapagos Conservation Trust in February 2015.

He continues to run expeditions and diving trips when he has the time between speaking engagements and filming projects. He has written six books, mainly on diving and the marine environment as well as "Beachcomber Cottage" for the first “Great Escape” series and “Great Irish Escape” for the third series. His latest book "The Fisherman’s Apprentice" documents his time in Cornwall with some wonderful photography (to accompany the BBC series of the same title). Monty writes a monthly column for Diver and Powerboat and Rib as well as monthly blogs for Simply Scuba and Simply Hike.

His hobbies include playing the guitar and playing rugby - both to a mind bogglingly low standard. In the latter he has two shot knees, no pace, and doesn't like tackling and yet remains resolutely optimistic concerning his call up to the national squad.

Monty has just returned from a 2 week diving project in Komodo Indonesia quickly followed by leading an expedition for Land Rover in South Africa called “The Shoals of Agulhas”.

Monty led a team along the coast of Natal, South Africa following the magnificent iconic event in the marine global calendar that is The Sardine Run. Vast shoals of sardines mass along this stretch of coast creating a frenzy of feeding activity attracting whales, dolphins and sharks in their thousands. Images and updates from this expedition can be found on Monty’s website as well as The Telegraph for which Monty has written several blogs with images and video links.

Event Organiser: Carley McCarthy

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